


A Touch Of Fire

by Aeriel



Category: Eight Days of Luke - Diana Wynne Jones, Norse Religion & Lore
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4518510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David had really hoped to have seen the last of Luke's relations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Touch Of Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirin/gifts).



School was out for the winter holidays, and Luke had turned up, as Luke often did, for no particular reason other than to make David and Astrid's lives a little more interesting.

"Bring a touch of light to your sunless winter days and all that," Luke said.

"We don't have those," David pointed out, but he was grateful all the same. And how nice it was, to really be grateful without having it rubbed in one's face!

Of course, it didn't hurt that Luke often brought presents. Some were little things, and some were almost alarmingly extravagant. Astrid would often exclaim that they couldn't possibly accept, only to be easily persuaded by Luke that she deserved something special for herself once in a while. Though really, what David liked best was having a friend around that would happily play almost any game, and often invent a few himself. It was too bad Luke never seemed particularly interested in playing with the other boys David was friends with, but after everything else Luke had done for him, David couldn't bring himself to hold it against him.

But then one late afternoon they were walking out to the fields, laughing and talking, when a huge grey cat darted out in front of them, nearly tripping David.  
  
This would have been unusual enough on its own, but when David turned to get a better look at it, it seemed to just been a normal sized (if extremely well fed) cat, trotting up to a horribly familiar bright and fair woman.  
  
He'd rather hoped to have seen the last of most of Luke's relations, particularly the Frys. But to David's surprise, when Mrs. Fry glanced at him it was as though she barely saw him at all, and when she saw Luke she looked downright irritated. It was such a normal, human expression, it actually made David like her a little better.  
  
"Valfreyja!" Luke greeted her. "Where's your brother on this lovely winter's day?"  
  
"Well, you know him. It isn't exactly his kind of weather," Mrs Fry said, which clarified nothing for David, but seemed to satisfy Luke. "Besides, this is my own business, not his."  
  
"And here I thought you'd come for a friendly chat." To David's alarm, Luke turned to him. "David, have you met… I'm sorry, which name are you using at the moment?"  
  
"I'm sure we remember each other," Mrs Fry said dryly. "Avoid drinking too heartily with him if you can, David. He's rather a nasty drunk."  
  
"I'm not old enough to drink alcohol," David said, uncomfortably.  
  
"Is that so? What a funny idea."  
  
"I haven't touched the stuff since I've been freed," Luke said cheerfully. "David's been a good influence."  
  
"Has he?" Mrs Fry raised her fair eyebrows. David wondered if she was actually married to anyone at all. "Do I look different, Luke?"  
  
"Stunning as always, Gefn. Though, since you ask," Luke hastened to add, probably noticing the dark look on Mrs Fry's face, "I see you seem to have left Brisingamen behind you. Is that what this is about?"  
  
"It seems to me, Luke, that every time my property is stolen you know something about it. And what with you dividing your time between realms, your whereabouts are more difficult to account for than most."  
  
Stunning, David thought, really was the word for it. There was no doubt that Mrs Fry was beautiful, but the more she talked, the more frightening her beauty began to seem.  
  
The cat winding around her legs seemed larger too, almost big enough to pull something behind it like a horse. Though that was impossible, David told himself, because the cat still didn't come up higher than Mrs Fry's knee, which he could make out through her dress.  
  
"Ah," Luke said. David thought he really was quite intimidated, but trying not to show it. "My record does speak against me, I'll give you that. Would it help if I offered to help find it?"  
  
The cat hissed, and David jumped back.  
  
"I would have thought it was quite obvious I already expected that much," Mrs Fry said.  
  
Luke put a hand on David's shoulder. "Now, there's no need to go upsetting David. He's got nothing to do with it, and I already said I'd help."  
  
Somehow, that was when David realized, with an awful pang, Luke really did know something about the object's theft.  
  
"You always do find heroic types to hide behind, don't you, Luke?" There seemed to be two cats now, sleek and muscled, but it was a little easier to look at Mrs Fry's face. "David and the girl here and Sigyn in your own hall."  
  
"Girl?" David repeated, because he couldn't think how to react to the description of himself as a heroic type.  
  
"She means Astrid," Luke explained. "And I'm not hiding. You looked for me and here I am, with David."  
  
On the one hand, this was technically true. On the other, David had a feeling that Luke was using him, whether he meant to or not, to evade Mrs Fry's questions. And he was on the whole sick of being made to feel responsible for other people.  
  
"Look," David said to Mrs Fry, not quite sure how to address her, "if there's something you want either of us to do, I wish you'd just say what it was. I'd just as soon not have to guess or not guess what everyone wants to be done."

Mrs Fry smiled, and all of a sudden looked much younger and more approachable. If David hadn't known for a certainty that she and Luke were older than he could begin to imagine, he might have mistaken her for being his own age. "I don't make those sorts of bargains, David. All I want is my necklace returned."

David was having a hard time remembering why he'd disliked her before. She obviously wasn't like Wedding and the others, not really, even if he didn't entirely trust that she meant what she said, or at least, that there wasn't some catch to it.

Luke laughed. "Now who's playing dirty?"

David was irritated with Luke. "You might as well admit you've done something. I don't see why you had to, really. They'd leave you alone if you stopped playing pranks."

Luke's smile vanished. "You really shouldn't have said that, David."

It was much colder now, and snow had begun to fall. From behind David, someone said, "Is this the mortal who helped Luke to slay my snakes?"

A chill went down David's spine, and he spun around.

It was another woman, with a lean athletic look to her, even underneath her winter clothes, and an expression so foreboding that David couldn't bear to look directly at her. He still had nightmares about those huge snakes from time to time. The idea that he was known in any way to the sort of person who dreamed those up was alarming, to say the least.

"I'm sorry," David blurted out.

Her eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. "Why should you be? They served their purpose. As you appear to have served yours. Are you playing at being a force for good again, Luke?"

"I'd never dream of stealing a dead man's mantle," Luke said, much to David's confusion.

"He's playing at something, all right," Mrs Fry said dryly.

"Well, if he is, I don't think he's the only one," David said, frustrated. "You tried to charm me, didn't you? _Luke's_ never done that."

"Are you quite sure of that?" Mrs Fry smiled, and for a moment David was nearly blinded by gold. "Charm is a fickle thing. One doesn't try. One succeeds or fails. You were charmed until I didn't see the point in charming you."

"And there wouldn't be much point in my charming David, since he already gave me the thing I wanted most before we'd even met," Luke said flatly. "If I bring you back Brisingamen, will you leave off teasing him?"

Mrs Fry seemed quite unrepentant, but then again, David thought, she _would_ be. "Of course. At least, until he's old enough to flirt back."

"Then I'll be on my way for now," the athletic woman said, adjusting her woolen hat. "You've no reason to listen to me, boy, but I'll tell you all the same. Luke is fire, and playing with one means getting close to the other."

David glanced at Luke. He looked rather unhappy, but he didn't deny it, which somehow made David feel better. "Luke's not _bad_ though. Not like some people."

The woman didn't smile, but she did look a little less severe. "I never said he was. Chaos is never so precise."

And with that, she was gone.

"Who was that?" David asked.

"A sort of an aunt to Vanadis here," Luke said, gesturing to Mrs Fry, who made an irritated face that did nothing to detract from her beauty.

"Stop using every name I've ever used. We call you Luke while you're here, don't we?" She blew a kiss at David, much to his embarrassment. "I'll be waiting for my necklace. You know what happens if you don't give it back." She swept up one arm, and David had just enough time to realize she was wearing a feathered cloak before she changed into a large bird of prey, who took off into the cloudy sky.

"Well!" Luke said brightly. "Shall we find a nice replacement for Astrid?"


End file.
